Fever
by victoriamartynne
Summary: When Cordelia's life is threatened by a fever is it medical or mystical?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Fever  
  
Author: victoriamartynne  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing!  
  
Spoilers: None, I think!  
  
Summary: When Cordelia's life is threatened by a fever is it medical or mystical?  
  
"Hi guys" Buffy said and walked into the Hyperion with a suitcase.  
  
Cordelia raised an eyebrow from where she was laid on the couch in the lobby but didn't move. She had a wet cloth of her forehead to try to bring down the fever that she knew was coming.  
  
"Buffy, hello." Wesley greeted and came out of his office, a book in his hand. "What brings you to LA?"  
  
"I'm here visiting my dad and I thought I would come see Angel. Is he here?" She left her suitcase by the door and came down the steps.  
  
"He's out on a case with Fred and Gunn." Cordelia said in a voice hoarse from coughing. "He shouldn't be too long."  
  
Buffy wrinkled her nose. "What's with you? Entering the LA pageant for sad looking women?"  
  
"I'm ill." Cordelia replied simply. She might have added a comeback to that had she been feeling a bit better but sickness got the better of her.  
  
"And you can't tell." Buffy said sarcastically.  
  
Cordelia pulled the cloth over her eyes and said nothing.  
  
"Is it okay if I wait here?" Buffy asked Wes.  
  
"Of course, come into my office." He held his arm politely but without enthusiasm. He looked over Buffy's retreating shoulder and saw Cordelia mouth thank you.  
  
Angel walked through the door and fell straight over, tumbling down the stairs. Gunn snickered and even Cordelia lifted her head to see Angel sprawled in a heap on the lobby floor and smirked.  
  
"Why is there a suitcase in the doorway of my hotel?" Angel asked Cordelia sourly.  
  
Fred giggled at the expression on Angel's face and sidestepped the suitcase in order to get into the hotel safely.  
  
"You have a visitor." Cordelia said and then coughed.  
  
"Who?" He asked and picked himself up off the floor.  
  
"The love of your life." She muttered as Buffy came out of the office to envelope Angel in a hug.  
  
"Buffy." Angel began, shocked as the slayer embraced him. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I was visiting my dad and I got pissed at him so I was thinking maybe I could stay with you until Giles comes to pick me up."  
  
He looked at Cordelia's face over Buffy's shoulder. "Sure." He agreed lamely.  
  
Cordelia threw up her hands and sank down into the cushions of the couch.  
  
"Great!" The slayer beamed and kissed his cheek enthusiastically.  
  
"Yeah, great." Cordelia muttered.  
  
Angel came to sit next to Cordelia while Buffy went upstairs to her room. There was only one that was decent enough for someone to live in and thankfully it was on the floor above Angel's room.  
  
"How are you?" He asked and took her hand.  
  
"I feel like crap." She admitted. "And you, Mr Hospitality, invite Buffy 'I like to kill things' Summers to come and stay! Shall we upgrade to feeling like death? Yeah!"  
  
She stopped to cough.  
  
He took that opportunity to start talking. "Maybe you should stay here tonight."  
  
She glared at him. "Did you not get the extent of my feelings just then? Buffy's staying here, which means I want to be anywhere except from here. Besides, she took the only liveable room."  
  
"You could stay in my room." He suggested and stroked the soft skin on the inside of her wrist.  
  
The movement made Cordelia feel woozy, it felt that good. "I don't think that would be a good idea."  
  
"Why not?" He asked, watching her reaction to the movement of his fingers.  
  
"What if you want Buffy to come back to your room? Not to have sex of course because if I see Angelus running around the place I'll stake him dead. But if you wanted her to come back for non-physical activities then it wouldn't look good to have me in there."  
  
"Buffy is not coming back to my room." He promised.  
  
Cordelia just gave him a look which said that she didn't believe him.  
  
"You could have my room." Fred offered. "I could stay at Gunn's place. Then you won't be alone if you need help in the middle of the night. It's just across the hall from Angel's room."  
  
"I don't want to chuck you out of your room Fred." She sneezed. "Besides, I have a ghost. All of you underestimate what he is capable of!"  
  
Wes coughed. "Loofah!"  
  
Cordelia glared at him but then doubled up in a coughing fit.  
  
"Cordy, don't worry. I'll be fine at Gunn's." Fred concluded.  
  
"Fred, do you want to go shopping?" Buffy asked the young Texan.  
  
"Er, sure." Fred said doubtfully. "You don't want to ask Cordy?"  
  
Buffy waved her hand in the air. "She's a little too 'bear with a sore head' for me."  
  
Fred said nothing but grabbed her purse.  
  
"We'll be back soon Angel." Buffy called out to him.  
  
He looked up from the file he was reading. "Sure."  
  
Cordelia shuffled into the lobby from the bathroom. "Where's Fred gone?"  
  
"Shopping." Wes replied. "Could you look at this picture and tell me whether it is the demon you saw in your vision yesterday?"  
  
"Sure." Cordelia muttered and then said under her breath. "Fred gets to go shopping; I get to look at demon pictures."  
  
Wes looked up. "Are you okay? You seem a bit."  
  
"Bitter, remorseful, left out?" She offered.  
  
"Ill looking." He replied.  
  
She blushed slightly. "That's the demon."  
  
Wes thanked her and watched her walk to her desk and slump onto the chair.  
  
"Maybe you should consider going to see a doctor."  
  
"I have."  
  
"You have?"  
  
"You sound surprised." He could hear the smile in her voice. "I do have life beyond Angel Investigations. I do take care of myself and go shopping and go to the cinema. My doctor said that I have the flu or a bug that's going around. At this moment in time I think I might have both."  
  
"Why don't you go home?" He suggested. "Go take a hot bath and go to bed early."  
  
"I can't. Fred and Angel say that I've got to stop here tonight so he can take care of me. And besides, I have too much work to do. The Jensen case is pending as well that the one with the Sholah demon rising in the park. I need to do research and find out how to kill it and then." She was stopped by a coughing fit.  
  
"Cordelia!" Wes commanded. "Go and rest. We can handle the business. If they want you to stop here then go and borrow Fred's bed or Angel's."  
  
"But." She raised her head and started to complain.  
  
"Cordelia!" Angel's voice cut her off. He marched up to her and picked her up off the chair.  
  
"Angel, what are you doing?" She shouted.  
  
"You are going to get in my bed and sleep." He ordered and looked at her sternly. His heart melted when he looked into her hazel eyes. "Then you can get well again and come back to work."  
  
She gave up trying to argue and rested her head on his shoulder, letting him carry her to his room.  
  
"What's going on?" Buffy asked as she came into the hotel, followed by Fred.  
  
"Cordelia's sick. I'm taking her upstairs." Angel answered and started up the stairs.  
  
"Oh, Cordelia has a room here too?" She asked innocently.  
  
"No, I'm taking her to my room."  
  
Buffy was left standing at the bottom of the stairs staring at Angel's retreating back wondering whether Cordelia stayed in Angel's room often. 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Fever  
  
Author: victoriamartynne  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing!  
  
Spoilers: None, I think!  
  
Summary: When Cordelia's life is threatened by a fever is it medical or mystical?  
  
"Do you want anything?" He asked when he'd got her settled her in his bed under two blankets. Only her head was visible.  
  
She shook her head and let her eyes drift shut.  
  
"I'll come up and check on you in a while." He promised and leaned down to kiss her forehead before leaving her.  
  
"So, what's wrong with Queen C?" Buffy asked Angel as soon as he came back downstairs. "Has someone finally got their revenge on her by poisoning her food?"  
  
Fred choked on her soda and excused herself to go to the bathroom.  
  
Angel bristled. "She's ill, the flu or a virus."  
  
"Maybe she got an STD?" She suggested. "Xander got one, remember when you came to Sunnydale at Thanksgiving, and he pretty much looked like she does right now."  
  
Angel just stared at her and then replied. "She doesn't have an STD."  
  
"Oh, come on." Buffy laughed. "She slept her way around Sunnydale why shouldn't she sleep her way around LA?"  
  
"Cordelia never slept her way around Sunnydale." Angel began to get angry with her. "The first man she ever slept with was in LA. He impregnated her with demon spawn and she hasn't dated much since then."  
  
Buffy shrugged but said nothing about that. "Where are we going tonight?"  
  
"What?" He looked confused.  
  
"Well, I'm in LA so surely you want to take me somewhere." She said. "Where can we go?"  
  
"I really need to look after Cordelia." He told her. Seeing the sad look cross Buffy's face he relented. "Okay, I can get Fred to look after Cordelia for a while we go out but I can't leave her for too long. We could go to Caritas, I know the owner."  
  
"Great!" She beamed. "I'll go shower and choose something to wear."  
  
He watched her bound up the stairs and hoped that she wasn't getting any ideas about them getting back together.  
  
Cordelia writhed under the blankets Angel had put over her. Her skin felt hot and seemed to pulsate with every breath. Her breathing had seemed to speed up and got heavier. Her heart rate quickened. Her head was thrown back on the pillow and a sheen of sweat covered her brow, cheekbones and neck. Under the blankets her fists clenched and unclenched. Her body thrashed from side to side. Images of people flew into her mind. They were trapped in a building. In an elevator shaft. There was a vampire in with them, they didn't know. They needed help. They were going to die. Pain filed her head and she screamed and sat up. "Angel!"  
  
"Angel's not here." Fred said and passed Cordelia a damp cloth. "He went out. He told me to watch over you."  
  
She started to swing her legs over the side of the bed. "I need to find him, now!"  
  
She stood up wobbly and the look on her face told Fred not to argue and help her instead.  
  
She helped her dress and tie up her hair and then let her lean on her while they went down the stairs.  
  
"What are you doing?" Wes asked angrily. "Get back to bed at once!"  
  
"I can't." She said her voice almost incoherent. "I need to find Angel. We need everyone, there's a group of people trapped in an elevator with a vampire. We need to help them."  
  
"You have a vision?" Gunn asked and grabbed his axe.  
  
"I don't know, I don't think so." She started to cough and just pointed to the doors, indicating for them to leave.  
  
They pulled up outside Caritas in Gunn's truck. They could see Angel's Plymouth was parked a few cars down. Gunn offered to go in and get Angel while the others stayed in the truck. Cordelia drummed her fingers on the dashboard impatiently. It didn't take long for Gunn to come back with Angel. And Buffy.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked through the window, concern written on his face.  
  
"There are people stuck in an elevator shaft with a vampire. The Monroe building on Wilcoxon and Fifth. Fourth floor. We have twenty minutes to get there and get in the elevator."  
  
"Okay." He concluded. "Me and Buffy will go in my car, we'll follow you." He smiled and then went to the convertible, Buffy on his heels.  
  
They arrived at the building with only a few minutes to spare. The guys and Buffy went ahead while Fred held behind to help Cordelia. They arrived in the lobby to see the gang stood in the crowded elevator waiting for the doors to close. Cordelia felt the world spinning around her and her knees begin to buckle. She fell towards the floor heavily taking Fred with her. Angel saw her fall and was about to go to her but the doors closed.  
  
"Cordy!" Fred cried out. She held Cordelia's head in her lap. She looked around. "Can someone call an ambulance?"  
  
Cordelia woke up in the hospital. She looked around. There were no wires attached to her or anything, she was just laid there. A nurse came in and smiled cheerily.  
  
"Well, hello there. I'm Linda, your nurse." She picked up the chart at the end of the bed and looked at it. "We've run a drip through your blood and took a few tests. You've just got the flu. We're sending you home to rest. That means staying in bed. We don't want you fainting again."  
  
She nodded and swung her legs off the bed. "Are my friends here?"  
  
"There's a Texan girl outside." Linda told her and helped her to stand and walk out of the room.  
  
"Cordelia!" Fred greeted her, a worried look on her face. "I was so worried."  
  
"Where's Angel?" She asked and let Linda go back to work.  
  
"I don't know. The ambulance came before they came out of the elevator. I came with you." Fred put an arm around Cordelia's shoulders and led her to the main doors.  
  
She sat her down on a bench inside the door. "Wait here, I'm going to call a cab."  
  
The cab dropped them off at the Hyperion. Gunn's truck and Angel's Plymouth were parked outside. Fred helped Cordelia walk in through the doors. The gang were all stood round the counter. Angel was on the phone. He slammed it down when he heard the door close behind them and came running across to them.  
  
"What happened?" He took the weight off Fred and supported Cordelia himself.  
  
"She fainted. I called an ambulance and they took us to hospital." Fred explained. "I was just calling them. What did they say?"  
  
"That I have the flu." Cordelia said irritably. "And that I'm not allowed to get out of bed."  
  
"Then you are going to bed now." Angel told her sternly and was about to pick her up to carry her there but she held her hand out.  
  
"I can't just yet. I need to talk to you." She began to cough. "All. of. you."  
  
He put his arm around her and directed her to the nearest couch.  
  
Wes and Gunn came from around the counter to sit around her. Fred went to hop on the counter next to the bored looking slayer and Angel crouched down on the floor in front of Cordelia.  
  
"Earlier, I saw those people. You did save them didn't you?"  
  
"Yes we did." Wesley answered.  
  
"I didn't have a vision."  
  
"You didn't?" Gunn asked confused.  
  
"No, I don't know." She looked even more confused than Gunn. "I was asleep and I was restless and I think I was tossing and turning. Then I began to see pictures. I saw those people."  
  
"While you were asleep?" Wesley asked and jotted something down in his notebook.  
  
"Yes, mo, I don't know." She shook her head and Angel realise she was near tears. "I saw them and they were screaming and suddenly I was screaming and then."  
  
"Then what?" Buffy asked, feigning interest.  
  
Cordelia looked up and glared at her. "I guess I woke up."  
  
"So you were asleep." Wes stated and crossed something out in his notebook.  
  
"I don't know!" She sighed and rubbed at her temples angrily.  
  
"It's okay, honey." Angel told her and reached out for her hand which she obligingly gave him. "We'll research and find out what happened but you need to go upstairs and sleep."  
  
"I can't sleep." She argued as he stood up and pulled her to her feet gently. "Every time I close my eyes I see them."  
  
"Okay." He soothed and scooped her up into his arms to carry her upstairs. "Just rest then."  
  
Wesley, Gunn and Fred looked on with frowns on their faces as he carried her up the stairs.  
  
Buffy looked on in jealously.  
  
Angel placed her gently on his bed and wrapped the thick comforter around her. He sat down next to her and smoothed her hair away from her eyes.  
  
Her teeth were chattering slightly and her body was shaking.  
  
"Are you cold?" He asked, feeling her forehead.  
  
"I don't know, I can't feel anything." She answered weakly.  
  
"You feel warm." He commented. "Do you want a hot water bottle or some more blankets?"  
  
She shook her head. "Water."  
  
He nodded and went into the small kitchen to get her a glass of water.  
  
He came back and held up her head so she could take small sips from the glass.  
  
"Better?" He asked and pulled the glass away.  
  
She nodded, her eyelids were drooping. "If you want to go back to Buffy you can."  
  
He shook his head but she didn't see. "I'm fine here."  
  
He stayed with her until she fell into a light sleep. Only then did he leave her to go talk to Wes.  
  
"What's happening to her?" He asked the former watcher.  
  
"I'm not sure." He replied, looking up from the book he was reading. "I'm not altogether convinced that this fever is medical. It may be something like what happened to her when Wolfram and Hart gave her the fake visions."  
  
"So Wolfram and Hart could be using her to get to me again?" Angel asked angrily.  
  
"They could be, but I'm leaning more towards the idea that it could be some sort of test that a seer has to go through or some sort of rite of passage to test their strength and loyalty to their warrior and his mission."  
  
"The Powers could be doing this to her?" Angel asked incredulously.  
  
Wesley made a so-so motion with his hand. "I'm not altogether sure so please don't jump to conclusions just yet. I'll keep researching this and I'll get Lorne to come over tomorrow to read her."  
  
"Thanks Wes." Angel said and flopped down in a chair next to him.  
  
"No problem." He smiled. "How is she?"  
  
Angel shook his head. "Not good, she's weak and in pain. And confused. I'm worried about her."  
  
"I know, we all are." 


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Fever  
  
Author: victoriamartynne  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing!  
  
Spoilers: None, I think!  
  
Summary: When Cordelia's life is threatened by a fever is it medical or mystical?  
  
Angel said goodnight to Wes and Buffy and went back upstairs to Cordelia. Gunn and Fred had gone out for a drink and then they were staying over at Gunn's.  
  
She was breathing heavy and sweating under the thick comforter. Every once in a while she would moan in her sleep or thrash against the pillows.  
  
Angel pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat holding her clammy hand. With the other hand he flicked aimlessly through a book that Cordelia had left there, a trashy romance that he wasn't interested in reading.  
  
Mostly he kept his eyes on Cordelia.  
  
He knew something was going to happen when he saw tears begin to seep from under her closed eyelids.  
  
He threw the book on the floor and leaned closer to her.  
  
He picked up his cell phone from the bed side cabinet where he'd left it and called Wes telling him to get over here fast with Gunn and Fred.  
  
Cordelia began to see pictures in her head. Then the pictures became reality. She walked down an alley slowly, she was limping. The heel of her shoe was broken and she was crying.  
  
She stopped to pull off the offending shoe and jumped when a man stepped out from behind a dumpster.  
  
"You scared me." She said and walked around him, only to be tugged back by the hair.  
  
She screamed slightly as she hit the dumpster hard. "What are you doing?"  
  
The man didn't answer.  
  
He stepped out of the shadows and she saw his yellow eyes and ridged forehead.  
  
She screamed but it was cut off as a hand clamped over her mouth.  
  
His fangs sank into her neck and he sucked the blood from her.  
  
She could feel the life slipping for her and the feel of the two pinpricks on her neck as they stayed embedded in her neck until she fell to the floor.  
  
"Cordelia!" The man shouted. "Cordelia!"  
  
"Wake up!" Angel shouted and shook her to wake her up from the catatonia she was in.  
  
She sat up abruptly, gasping for breath and holding onto the side of her neck.  
  
She whimpered and opened her eyes. "I'm dead."  
  
"You look it." A voice muttered to her left.  
  
She turned but saw blurred shapes moving around her. "I'm dead." She repeated.  
  
Her head spun and she fell backwards, unconscious.  
  
"Wesley, sort this now!" Angel ordered and paced around the lobby. "She cannot go through this every time she goes to sleep."  
  
"I'm working on it."  
  
"Then work harder, dammit."  
  
"Angel, there's no need to get angry, I'm doing the best I can!" Wesley snapped but then softened. "It's hard on all of us, seeing her like this. But we'll sort it."  
  
Angel nodded but didn't stop pacing. "She was so confused, she thought she was dead."  
  
Gunn came down the stairs. "She woke up."  
  
Angel ran past him and up the stairs.  
  
Fred was sat on the bed next to the subdued and pale looking Cordy. Buffy was sat in the chair Angel had been sat in watching Fred bathe Cordelia's forehead, looking quite bored.  
  
"Cordelia." Angel said and came straight across the room to sit next to her. "What happened?"  
  
"I was in an alley and I was bit by a vampire. I died." She replied in monotone.  
  
"You didn't die honey, you're still alive."  
  
"No, I died. I could feel him suck the blood out of me." She told him and seemed to look straight through him.  
  
He touched her face. "When did this happen?"  
  
"Just then, I died."  
  
"When does it take place?" He asked again and stroked her cheek with his finger.  
  
"Just then I died." She replied once more. "I died tomorrow. I died. No blood, all gone. Taken, stolen."  
  
Angel swallowed hard. "It's okay honey. Where were you?"  
  
"In an alley, a dark alley. I'd broken my heel on a grate. Near a grate. A water grate. There was water, too much water. It was falling. I couldn't see the grate. I'd been to a party you see. Nobody talked to be, I was alone. Mr Pearson didn't talk." She babbled.  
  
"Who's Mr Pearson?" Angel asked.  
  
"George, party person. He invited me and didn't talk to me." She cried out and then passed out again.  
  
"Angel, I've got it." Wes said an hour later. "There's a party tomorrow night by Mr George Pearson at his house on Hudson Avenue nest to the river. And there just happens to be an alley running next to the house."  
  
"Wes, you're a genius. I could kiss you." Angel exclaimed and jumped up from Cordelia's desk where he had been sat with a mug of blood. He saw the look on Wes's face. "But I won't."  
  
"Why don't you go and see how Lorne is going with Cordelia?" Wes suggested.  
  
He nodded and bounded up the stairs, meeting Buffy half way.  
  
"Angel, wait." She ordered and put a hand on his arm.  
  
"What?" He asked impatiently.  
  
"Can we go somewhere?"  
  
"What? When?"  
  
"Now. Or tomorrow night. I'm bored here." She pouted.  
  
"I can't leave Cordelia; I can't believe you'd expect me to."  
  
"But I came to see me and I've hardly spent any time with you."  
  
"Look, Cordelia is sick and I'm worried about her. You came at the wrong time if you want company. You can either stay and help or go home because I haven't got time to do this right now."  
  
He began to walk up the stairs.  
  
"You never have!" She shouted at his retreating back.  
  
"Angel." Cordelia whispered hoarsely from the bed as he came through the door, no longer in a state of catatonia or dementia.  
  
Lorne had his hands on her temple rubbing in circles, trying to sense something.  
  
"Sweetie, please, each time you lose concentration I lose concentration."  
  
"Sorry." She apologised meekly.  
  
"Let's try again." He put his hands back in position and she closed her eyes, ready to start again.  
  
"How's it going?" Angel asked Fred.  
  
"He doesn't know yet." She whispered. "He thinks that maybe her demon-ness has entitled her to endure some sort of test to see if she's eligible to be your seer in the force of good or if the demon in her will take control and be a force of evil."  
  
"Cordelia could turn evil?" Angel asked the young Texan and pried his eyes off Cordelia to look at her.  
  
"He isn't sure, he heard about something like this before."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"She, uh, she turned, kinda, evil." Fred stuttered.  
  
Angel turned and looked again at his helpless seer on the bed. Cordelia couldn't turn evil, she just couldn't. 


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Fever  
  
Author: victoriamartynne  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing!  
  
Spoilers: None, I think!  
  
Summary: When Cordelia's life is threatened by a fever is it medical or mystical?  
  
"Hey." Angel said as he sat down next to the frail Cordelia.  
  
"Hey, what's going on?" She said as soon as she saw him. She could see from his face that there was something he wasn't saying.  
  
He took her hand. "Wes thinks that this fever is some sort of test that you have to pass, like a rite of passage, to show your loyalty to your warrior and the mission." He didn't mention the good/evil thing.  
  
"So this is like, a powers thing?" She asked, looking utterly confused.  
  
"Shush, don't get worked up." He urged and stroked her hand. "Nothing's for sure yet."  
  
She nodded. "Where'd you leave Buffy?"  
  
He smiled at her choice of words. "She went shopping."  
  
Cordelia made a big show of rolling her eyes. "It's about time, I mean, did you see those outfits she wore back in Sunnydale?"  
  
Angel smirked. "You sound like you're feeling well enough to eat. Do you want eggs?"  
  
"On one condition." She held up a finger weakly and he waited patiently. "Let me go downstairs, I can rest on the couch."  
  
He was about to argue but he noticed the stubborn look on her face. "Okay." He relented. "But only until you've eaten and then you're back up here."  
  
She nodded happily and then looked surprised when he picked her up. "Hey, buster, I am quite capable of walking!"  
  
He growled. "Grab the blanket."  
  
She grabbed the blanket.  
  
Once she was settled on the couch he set about making her eggs.  
  
"So." Buffy said and sauntered across to her, having just come back from the shops. "Angel cooks for you."  
  
Cordelia nodded, her head just visible above the think blanket Angel had wrapped her up in. "He buys me clothes too."  
  
She watched as Buffy's face clouded over. "So? He gave me a silver ring." She flounced off as Cordelia started coughing again. "Yeah, then you sent his to hell as a thank you."  
  
The coughing brought on a head ache. "Fred, honey, could you bring me a couple of painkillers?"  
  
Fred nodded and smiled.  
  
Cordelia accepted the tablets and swallowed three in one go.  
  
"Should you be taking three at once?" Fred asked, concerned at the way Cordelia swallowed the powerful tablets.  
  
"I used to take five at once but I managed to limit them."  
  
Fred just frowned and sat back down at her desk.  
  
"Here you go." Angel said and handed her a plate of eggs.  
  
She shuffled up so the couch so she could eat properly.  
  
Wes came to sit next to her. "Cordelia, we really need to talk later on. My research keeps coming up against the fact that this fever could be supernatural. I believe that it will turn out to be some sort of test that you have to pass in order to continue being a seer and continue having Angel as your warrior." He too didn't mention the good/evil thing, Angel had made him promise.  
  
"Which one?" Cordelia asked in between bites.  
  
"As of yet I don't know." He admitted. "The probability is to show that you are faithful to your warrior, seen as though you've already had two chances to give up your visions and not be a seer anymore."  
  
She nodded. "So, what do I have to do?"  
  
"Unfortunately, none of the books seem to tell me anything about the actual test. It could be anything."  
  
Cordelia rolled her eyes and gave Wesley the nearly empty plate. "Great."  
  
He smiled.  
  
"Do me a favour Wes?" She asked and shuffled down again. "Let me sleep a bit here? Don't let Angel take me upstairs."  
  
He smiled again and nodded, taking the plate into the kitchen.  
  
Cordelia was drowning. The world was spinning as she was sucked under the water. Her lungs were burning and her eyes were stinging from the salt water. She floundered unsuccessfully, trying to reach the surface, wasting useful energy. She screamed and got a mouthful of water. She choked as it entered her lungs and cut off her air supply. She kicked out with her legs trying desperately to kick her way up to where she could see the sun. She looked down and saw a young boy. His face was contorted in pain. Red was swirling around him. The sight of him closing his eyes finally stuck in her mind as her own eyes closed finally, leaving her in darkness.  
  
She woke with a start. Angel had hold of one of her arms, Gunn the other. Buffy, Wes and Fred were crowded around looking concerned. Even Buffy looked a little worried.  
  
"What happened?" She asked groggily. "Why are you holding onto me?"  
  
Her memories began to return and she started to cry softly. Angel let go of her arm and came to sit next to her. Gunn kept hold in order to keep her on the couch and not end up on the floor.  
  
"What did you see?" Angel asked her gently stoking her now wet cheek.  
  
"There's a little boy in the sea and he's bleeding and drowning." She replied, through tears. "I don't know anything else so don't ask."  
  
"I won't." He promised and looked at Wes who immediately went back to his office indicating for Fred to follow, which she did.  
  
"Find a way for this to end, please!" She begged.  
  
"We will." Angel promised. "We will."  
  
Cordelia lay once more in Angel's bed. This time he lay beside her.  
  
"Am I going crazy?" She asked him. "Maybe Wes's wrong and this isn't a test. Maybe the visions are just expanding because of my demon-ness. Maybe it's just something that I'm going to have to put up with now."  
  
Angel sighed and took her hand. "Look, there's something we haven't told you."  
  
She looked up at him, her eyes wide.  
  
"Lorne has seen something like this before. He thinks that this test you have to pass is something to do with your new demon-ness so in a way you were right. The visions are expanding. But the test is to prove whether you are going to play a part of good or a part of bad."  
  
He let the news sink in. "So I could become evil?"  
  
He shook his head. "I won't let you."  
  
"But what if I fail this test? Then I become evil." She said, a note of desperation in her voice. Her two greatest fears in life were her becoming evil or Angel becoming evil again. "I don't want to be evil!"  
  
He pulled her gently into his arms. "Cordelia, I know you. You don't fail. You're a winner in life. You survived apocalypses that you shouldn't have had to. You survived the visions that were killing you. You have survived so much in your short life that you shouldn't have had to. But you never complained and you fought for your life. You can do it again."  
  
She sniffed. "Maybe I complained a little."  
  
He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Maybe a little."  
  
She looked up, feeling him kiss her. Her lips ended up about an inch from his. She looked into his eyes and then slowly reached up to touch his lips with hers. Electricity tingled through both of their faces at the intimate contact.  
  
"I can't do this now." He said when they parted.  
  
She looked worried. "You don't think of me like that, I know, I'm sorry. I know you'd rather be with Buffy and you can go, really I'll be fine."  
  
He put a finger to her lips to quieten her. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I do think of you in that way. I think of you like that a lot. But I can't do this right now. Take advantage of you while you're sick. When you're better and the test is over then we'll talk about this. I don't want you to do anything you might regret later."  
  
She smiled. "I won't regret anything."  
  
He smiled and then froze.  
  
"Angel?" Cordelia sat up a little, unsure of why he had stopped. She touched his face gently. "Angel?"  
  
She sat up completely and waved a hand in front of his face. His eyes didn't move. He was frozen. 


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Fever  
  
Author: victoriamartynne  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing!  
  
Spoilers: None, I think!  
  
Summary: When Cordelia's life is threatened by a fever is it medical or mystical?  
  
She made her way down the stairs slowly, occasionally stumbling. "Wes? Gunn? Fred? Hell, Buffy?"  
  
She reached the lobby and saw them all frozen around the counter. "Oh God."  
  
She sank to the floor and hugged her knees. "What do I do?"  
  
"You can come with me." A voice ordered.  
  
She looked up and gasped. "Skip?"  
  
"The one and only." The demon grinned and held out a hand for her to take. "Here, come with me and I'll explain everything."  
  
She took his hand and they disappeared from the hotel.  
  
Everyone in the hotel unfroze.  
  
"Where are you taking me?" Cordelia asked as the world started swirling around her in a haze of colours.  
  
"Be calm." Skip soothed. "We'll be there in a moment."  
  
A second later they landed on what looked like a cloud. "You took me to a cloud?" She asked in disbelief.  
  
"A mystical cloud." Skip clarified.  
  
"Okay, why a cloud?" She looked around and saw nothing but cotton wool fluff. No walls or ceilings just fluff.  
  
"It's the home of the powers Cordelia. At this point in your journey, you have to take a test to prove your ability to control your demon and prove your loyalty to your warrior."  
  
"Wait a minute." Cordelia turned to look at him again. "I get to meet the powers?"  
  
He nodded. "In a moment you will. But first I have to explain and you have to listen."  
  
She nodded. "There will be two tests. The first will decide whether you will be good or evil. The new demon part of you has to be given a destiny. There is a good destiny and a bad destiny. The test will decide which one you get to live out."  
  
"And the second test?" She asked.  
  
"The second one will be to show your loyalty to your warrior. If you fail the test you will be given another warrior and have to undergo a new test after a year. If you fail that test then you will be stripped of your visions and become human again with a completely different destiny. Do you understand the seriousness of the tests?" He looked at her sternly.  
  
She nodded and gulped. "Bring on the first test."  
  
"Where is she?" Wes asked no one in particular after searching the hotel. "She can't have just taken off without us knowing."  
  
"She did Wes; she was there one moment and the next she wasn't!" Angel shouted. "We were sat talking, I blinked and then she was gone, just like that."  
  
"Yo man, maybe the test thing has started already." Gunn pointed out.  
  
Angel's frown deepened.  
  
"Cordelia Chase, you have been summoned before us to prove your willingness to the greater good." The voice said.  
  
She looked around but didn't see anyone.  
  
"The test will begin!" The voice boomed.  
  
Cordelia looked around and saw two children appear. "Okay, so what do I do?"  
  
"The test has begun!" The voice boomed in response.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Great, it's like getting one of your obscure visions!"  
  
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a very large brown, scaly demon appear. The two children separated and stood on either side of her, the demon was in front.  
  
"Okay, still confused guys! A little help wouldn't go amiss!" She shouted as she watched the demon approach.  
  
"The test has begun!" The voice repeated.  
  
"I want to be a ballerina." One of the children said.  
  
"I want to be a doctor." The other said.  
  
"I want to eat!" The demon bellowed.  
  
"And I want to know what the hell is going on, but it looks like you don't always get what you want!" She shouted at all three of them.  
  
"I had a mommy and a daddy but they died." The would be ballerina said. "I'm all alone."  
  
"I have a mommy, a daddy, three sisters and a brother." The future doctor said.  
  
"I want to eat!" The demon bellowed again.  
  
"Okay, back off demon guy!" Cordelia ordered. "You can eat later! What the hell am I supposed to do?" She shouted.  
  
"The test."  
  
"I get the point!" She cut the voice off angrily.  
  
The demon began to advance on one of the children. Cordelia jumped in front of it. "Okay, where are you going?"  
  
"I want to."  
  
"Eat! Yes I know!" She shouted exasperated. "What's with the dodgy repetition?"  
  
"Let me past!" The demon ordered.  
  
Cordelia stood her ground and shook her head.  
  
The demon swiped at her and then turned to go to the other child.  
  
"I don't think so!" Cordelia shouted and jumped onto the demon's back with a yell. "No way on Earth, or cloud, are you getting to these children!"  
  
Without warning the demon disappeared sending her falling to the floor. She looked around, the children were gone too.  
  
"That was easy wasn't it?" Skip commented and came to help her up.  
  
"That was it?" She asked in disbelief. "That's the infamous seer test? I jump on a demon's back and don't kill it and I get to be good instead of evil?"  
  
"Cordelia, you underestimate yourself." Skip tutted. "You showed that you were willing to face a demon bigger than yourself, to risk your life to save two innocent children. That shows that you were willing to sacrifice yourself for the greater good. With that you can be good."  
  
"And if I hadn't stopped the demon? What if it had been too strong for me or killed me?" Cordelia asked.  
  
"Oh, Fergus doesn't kill people. He's harmless. Quite like that big blue monster in Monsters Inc."  
  
"You've seen Monsters Inc?" She asked with a disgusted look on her face.  
  
"Yeah, I loved that flick!" He enthused.  
  
"So basically that demon wouldn't have hurt me or the children?"  
  
"The children were merely an illusion. And no, Fergus wouldn't have hurt you. He lives up here with the powers, a sort of pet. He helps them out when they need to test a seer. They used to use a Rakna demon until he got a little testy one day and attacked the seer in question." Skip explained and then shut up.  
  
"The second test will now begin." The strange voice boomed again.  
  
"Okay, give me all you've got." She ordered.  
  
She looked around and saw nothing. "Wow, this is going to be a really easy test."  
  
"Cor." A familiar voice greeted.  
  
She turned around smiling and saw Angel. "Hey, what are you doing here? Did they bring you here for my test?"  
  
"Something like that." He smiled.  
  
"Exactly what he said." Another voice said.  
  
She turned around to see another Angel, dressed exactly the same. "Cordelia."  
  
"Oh God." She muttered. "If one of you is Angelus I'm going to kill you dead!"  
  
"Cor, honey, listen to me. I'm your Angel!" One of them insisted.  
  
The other dropped to his knees. "Cordelia, you know I'd never call you honey."  
  
"True." She agreed.  
  
"I'd never drop to my knees, it's not my style." The other added.  
  
"Also true." She decided and then realised what the test was. "Oh crap, I gotta pick one of you two."  
  
"Pick me Cordy." The first one said.  
  
"You know you want me." The second added.  
  
"At this moment in time I don't want either of you!" She exclaimed. "There's something about this whole situation that just screams, porn film! Okay, you sing!" She pointed to the first one.  
  
He looked at her confused and then began to sing Mandy.  
  
Cordelia smiled slightly than frowned. "Okay, enough! Now you."  
  
The other Angel began to sing The Greatest Love of All. She loved that song and he knew it.  
  
"Okay, stop!" She thought for a moment. "Okay you, what would you buy me if we fell out?"  
  
"I'd buy you clothes." The second Angel said and then looked at the other one smugly.  
  
"And you?" She asked the first one.  
  
"I wouldn't buy you anything." He replied. "I'd hope that you'd come back to me without gifts."  
  
The other Angel snorted.  
  
"Who said you could snort?" Cordelia turned on him angrily.  
  
He looked down and mumbled an apology.  
  
"Okay, you." She thought of another question and pointed to the first Angel. "What's the first thing I say after I have a vision?"  
  
"You tell me what you saw."  
  
"And you?"  
  
"You ask for a painkiller."  
  
She nodded. "I know who which one is the real Angel!" She exclaimed and clapped her hands together. "Yay me!"  
  
Both Angel's disappeared. "Oh, crap, hallucinations? Now I feel like an ass!"  
  
A large man with a white beard and hair appeared in front of her. His hair seemed to go on forever. She tried to subtly look behind him to see how far it went but he was too close to her.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
He looked at her sternly. "Which Angel do you pick? The one who appeared first or the one who appeared second?"  
  
"The one who appeared first." She replied confidently.  
  
"Why?" The old man asked.  
  
She began to look a little nervous and unsure. She looked at Skip for reassurance but his face was blank. "He didn't call me Cordelia, he never calls me Cordelia unless he's mad at me. He didn't snort or look smug with his answers. He said that he wouldn't buy me gifts for me to come back to him. After the epiphany incident I told him that I would have been his friend no matter what, he didn't have to buy me the clothes, although they certainly did help. And he knows that I have always told him what's gone on in a vision before anything else, even asking for a painkiller."  
  
The man studied her for what seemed like ages. Finally he said. "The answer is incorrect."  
  
She looked up from studying her feet. "Incorrect? That's my Angel!"  
  
"The question was a trick. Both Angel's were in fact Angel. Your answer was wrong." He boomed, scaring her. "The reasons you gave for picking Angel number one was what enabled you to pass the test." He smiled.  
  
"What? I passed?"  
  
"You sound surprised Miss Chase." He smiled, looking a lot more friendly now. "You know Angel inside and out. The question you were asked had a double meaning. You failed to answer which Angel was Angel because they were both in fact Angel. You answered correctly, or I'm assuming correctly, in picking Angel's destiny. One Angel was the human part of Angel, the other was the vampire."  
  
"I picked Angel's destiny?" She shouted. "What did I pick?"  
  
"Angel gets to become human." The man smiled.  
  
"How can you do that? Who are you?" She asked suspiciously.  
  
"I thought you would have figured that out by now, you being such a smart girl and all. I'm the head to this organisation. Also known as the PTB or the Frickin Powers, depending on what mood you are in." He smiled.  
  
"So, you're the head Power, the boss man?" She smiled. "Wow! That's big. Can you do anything about the mind splitting pain I still receive with every vision?"  
  
"She's testy isn't she?" He asked Skip who just nodded in response.  
  
"So, I get to stay with Angel and not become evil?" She asked hopefully. "And Angel gets to become human?"  
  
He nodded and placed a hand on her forehead. "It was a pleasure giving you your test."  
  
"It was a pleasure being tested by you." She smiled.  
  
The world started spinning again until she arrived safely back in Angel's bed where she had been before. Only this time she was the only one in it.  
  
She stretched and left the room, running towards the stairs and down into the lobby.  
  
"Hi guys!" She said casually and grinned as they all looked up at her in disbelief. "I'm back!"  
  
Angel came running towards her and caught her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him grateful for his embrace.  
  
"What happened?" Wes asked when Angel had let her go and they come into the lobby.  
  
"I played for my destiny and Angel's." She replied and smiled at Angel.  
  
"My destiny?"  
  
She nodded. "Yup, I get to be god, not evil. I get to have you as my warrior. And wile I was up there I spoke to the head of the Powers That Be and managed to turn you human."  
  
Wes looked like he was about to faint and bypassed the whole human thing. "You spoke to the head of the."  
  
"I'm going to become human?" Angel asked in disbelief. "When? How?"  
  
"I don't know!" She laughed happily and gripped his hand.  
  
Without warning Buffy came up to hug her. "Thank you Cordelia."  
  
Cordelia pulled away. "For what?"  
  
"For letting me and Angel be together silly." She smiled and planted herself on Angel's knee.  
  
Cordelia's eyes clouded over. "I'm just going to freshen up, I've been on a long journey, I'll be back in a minute."  
  
She hurried to the bathroom and turned on the faucet so he couldn't hear her tears with his vampire hearing. After all they'd been through together she'd hoped that they'd be together when he became human. Without seeing Buffy for three years, it was easy to believe. Seeing Angel and Buffy together now brought on reality. Cordelia would never have Angel. The great forbidden love would always win.  
  
She dried her eyes as there was a knock at the door.  
  
"Open the door Cordelia." He ordered.  
  
He called her Cordelia. "Angel, go be with Buffy." She ordered.  
  
He broke the lock on the door easily and came in the bathroom. "Hey, personal bubble here!" She shouted and then shut up as he kissed her.  
  
He pulled back ever so slowly. "You were saying?"  
  
Words seemed to have evaporated from her memory. "I, uh, I."  
  
"I love you." He told her tenderly. "You and only you."  
  
She smiled shyly. "Really?"  
  
He nodded and then fell backwards against the door. "Angel?" She panicked and fell to her knees next to him. "Wes!"  
  
Wes came running though the lobby. "What's happening?"  
  
"I don't know!" She exclaimed. "He just fell!"  
  
"Cordelia." Wesley soothed the frightened seer. "Maybe it's happening, he's becoming human."  
  
"But it looks so painful!" She stroked Angel's forehead as the vampire ridges appeared.  
  
"Let it pass." Wes urged and stood back.  
  
The ridges disappeared and a bright glow emanated from him. The glow disappeared as soon as it had come.  
  
Cordelia looked down to where Angel's hand travelled to his chest. "Angel, you're breathing!"  
  
He smiled happily. "I'm breathing!" He repeated and then grabbed her. "God, thank you so much. Thank you for doing this."  
  
She closed her eyes. "I love you."  
  
The End 


End file.
